Improvement in railway-gates



s. w. La B'Aw.

Railway-Gates.

Patented Nov.v17,1874.

No.156,a8s.

UNITED STATES PATENT Crmcn.

GEORGE W. LA BAW, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY-GATES.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 156.888,'dated November 17, 1874; application filed Apri17, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. LA BAW, of Jersey City, in the State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Railway Guard-Gates, of which the following' is a specificatiou:

Gates at the crossings of railways and streets have been provided to` serve as a guard to prevent vehicles or persons passing upon the track when a train is approaching. These usually are drawn up and require posts to guidethe gates and considerable machinery for operating them, and they are often in the way ofvehicles with high loads upon them.

My invention relates to a gate that passes down out of the way, so that persons and vehicles can pass over. 1 employ a range of hinged radius-bars, connected together at their upper ends by a bar or rail that becomes the guard, and it is raised or lowered bodily by swinging the radius-bars from a vertical to a horizontal position, and vice versa. The radius-bars and rail are counterpoised, so as to move from any position with but little force, and there are slotted abutments near the ends of the rail, to serve as supports to the same against lateral strain.

In thel drawing, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of this improved guard, and Fig. 2 is a cross-section ofthe same.

The radius-bars a a and b b are connected by and swing upon the pivots or hinges c c el d, that are supported by suitable sill-pieces f f, that rest upon` brick or other foundations g g, and the trench formed between these Walls g g should be drained to prevent the accumulation of water, and may be of a size convenient for a person to pass into it for oiling, painting, or repairing the parts of the gate. The radiusbars a a b b are jointed at their upper ends to the guard-rail h., and this moves freely between the end guides or lateral supports k, that serve as abutments to the gate. The bars b b are counterpoised at their lower ends. These countenweights are ot' such a size and position that the gate will move easily when either up or down.

The gate may be operated easily by hand, the rail being depressed to allow vehicles and persons to pass, or raised to stop' them and form a guard. When depressed this rail nearly fills the space between the sills ff, and lies level, or nearly so, with the surface of the sills and roadway. It is preferable to insert stay-bolts at i to keep the sills at proper distances from eachother, and also to form supports upon which the 'rail h rests when depressed. By connecting two gates by a cross shaft or shafts, d1, to which the radius-bars a or b areattached, the two gates at opposite sides of a railway may be simultaneously raised or lowered, and a hand-lever (shown by dotted lines at cl2) may also be applied to this shaft to facilitate the turning of the said shaft.

I claim as my invention- The radius-bars a b, one or more of which extends below the pivots or hinges c d, and is provided with a counter-weight, in combination with the connecting'rail h, stay-bolt rests i between the sills f, and the hollow abutments lo, all constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

Signed by me this 3d day of April, A. D. 1874.

GEOR. W. LA BAW.

Witnesses GEO. T. PINCKNEY, GrrAs. H. SMITH. 

